Patna, May 17 -- Business tycoon Gautam Adani on Sunday performed groundbreaking ceremonies for a couple of eye care facilities in Bihar's Saran district that would have the capacity to perform up to 3.3 lakh surgeries annually and provide training to 1,000 professionals.
The Adani Group chairman and his wife, Priti Adani, who heads the Adani Foundation, performed 'bhoomi pujan' for the Adani Centre for Eye Diseases and Adani Training Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences.
Both these facilities will be attached to the Akhand Jyoti Eye Hospital at Mastichak, about 70 km from the state capital.
Mrityunjay Tiwari, the chief executive officer of the Akhand Jyoti Trust, a non-profit organisation that runs the hospital, was also present on the occasion.
According to a statement issued by the Adani Group, Rs 150 crore has been pledged by Adani Foundation, the CSR arm of the business conglomerate, for the two projects.
Speaking on this occasion, Gautam Adani said he believed in the philosophy of "seva hi sadhana hai" (service is worship) and announced a "personal commitment of Rs 500 crore" to the non-profit Akhand Jyoti Foundation, to boost "long-term humanitarian and community health care mission across the country".
The Adani Akhand Jyoti Foundation shall "expand affordable vision care and community health care access beyond Bihar across underserved regions in India", the statement issued by the business conglomerate said.
It also said the Adani Foundation will establish a 200-bed hospital in Pirpainti, near the Adani Group's upcoming ultra-supercritical 2,400 MW thermal power plant in Bihar's Bhagalpur district, which is to be built at an estimated cost of Rs 27,000 crore.
In a post on X, Gautam Adani described Bihar as "a land that has historically given the nation a new consciousness and direction."
"Adani Akhand Jyoti Foundation would seek to take the spirit of service born in Bihar to underserved communities across India," he said.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.